I saw a leader, poised and blessed with savvy. While his teammates around him struggled with assignments, tackling, and catching passes, I saw a man who kept his cool. He had ice water running through his veins. To borrow a phrase from Andre Lauren Benjamin, he was "smooth like a hot comb on nappy ass hair." The level of his game never dipped when his team needed him most and that's starting to become a trademark of his. His name is Russell Wilson and this was a signature performance.

Let's go back to a time when things weren't quite so rosey for the Seahawks 3rd round draft pick out of Wisconsin. October 2nd, 2012. The 'Hawks had just dropped a tough one in St. Louis. It was a game that many expected the Hawks to win, themselves included. It was a game that featured 3 interceptions, all of the fluke variety, from #3. A large group of Seahawks fans had their torches and pitchforks out and wanted blood. They wanted Matt Flynn. In the words of Lee Corso, not so fast my friend! No, not everyone wanted Russell Wilson's head on a stick, certainly not me and certainly not former Seahawks QB Warren Moon. Moon had this to say after the debacle under the arch..

"This kid is in his fourth football game in the National Football League, his team is 2-2, right in the thick of their division, he had one bad outing which wasn't even a bad outing – some of those things were out of his control – and people are ready to pull the plug,"

"Just be patient with the guy, let him fight through this and hopefully we continue to keep winning football games as we do it."

I found this quote from Moon even more interesting..

"If you want to get the most out of Russell Wilson, get him more involved in what you're doing offensively, let him throw the football, let him play action, let him get outside, let him do some of those things that he does best, that he was doing in the preseason," Moon said. "They're not doing that right now."

Turns out Moon was right. Turns out that Moon might know a thing or two about good ole' #3. Part of that comes with having decades of experience in professional football under his belt. The other part of it stems from something more human. My feeling is that Warren Moon sees a lot of himself in Russell Wilson. Forget the physical similarities for a minute, because there aren't many. Moon wins the eyeball test and the tale of the tape hands down save for mobility. You could make a case for arm strength and even then it's a bit of a stretch to say that Russell Wilson has a "Warren Moon" type arm. Moon is known as one of the game's all-time great gunslingers so it'll be a while before Russell can state his case, although I feel the potential is there. Where I think they are extremely similar is in the intangibles area. Now we all know it's tough to quantify the intangibles and exactly how important they are but there's no denying their existance.

Moon at UW

Hard worker, cool as a cucumber, overlooked, underappreciated, and told to change positions coming out of college. Sound familiar? Much like Russell Wilson, Warren Moon followed a similar path to the NFL. After leading the Huskies to a Rose Bowl victory over the Wolverines in 1978, Moon found that the only interest any NFL teams had in him was not at Quarterback, the position he had played and excelled at his entire life, but instead at Tight End since NFL teams were still racist?... and did not believe a black quarterback could start and succeed in the NFL. And while people have evolved in certain areas and Russell Wilson wasn't subjected to this same outlandish outcasting, he did face his own "color barrier" of sorts. His height.

Lucky for Russell, John Schneider didn't give a damn about height. Lucky for Pete Carroll and the 12th Man too. Warren Moon wasn't so lucky. He spent 6 seasons north of the border with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL before heading back down to the States to play in the NFL. So the man knows a thing or two about going through adversity. It's in this area that Warren Moon is a wise choice to help mentor the former Wolfpack and Badger. Warren Moon has faced all the challenges that Russell is going through right now. He's been through it all, and worse, and managed to keep a cool demeanor all while becoming the first player (Bud Grant did it as a coach) enshrined in both the Pro Football Half of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Moon also silenced all the critics by becoming the first black Quarterback ever in the Hall of Fame. The case could be made that Warren Moon is the original Russell Wilson.

Moon said that Wilson could handle more and we've seen that come true in the past few weeks. We're starting to see some of the things that got us thinking Super Bowl in the preseason. What impresses me so much about Wilson is his cool demeanor under pressure. He just never seems to react to anything that happens during the game with too much emotion. We've seen him frustrated (Arizona game) and jubilant (Green Bay game) afterwards but during the heat of the moment he's as focused as they come. I genuinely love the fact that I know I won't ever have to worry about him throwing a tantrum like Cutler or throwing teammates under the bus. What also impresses me is his ability to step up in the pocket and just throw absolute lasers to his receivers, as well as his uncanny ability to feel and avoid pressure. This blend of abilities makes me feel like I'm watching the love child of Fran Tarkenton and Warren Moon on a weekly basis.

What's next for #3? We'll see. When watching his highlight videos before the draft and from having watched him play for both NC State and Wisconsin, what always amazed me was how many incredible catches his receivers were able to make. Normally this would be used to detract from a quarterback's abilities but with Russell it's different somehow. We even saw it in the preseason with some of the catches Braylon Edwards was able to make on throws from Wilson. Call it luck, call it determination, call it fate, call it whatever. We'll just have to agree that Russell Wilson, when given the keys to the cadillac, has the ability to make everyone around him better. Guys like Brady, Brees, Rodgers, the true elites in this league, have an ability to make their receivers better. They have the confidence to go to less heralded receivers consistently and this confidence is contagious. Russell Wilson has that quality and we're beginning to see it put out there on display. Something tells me that if Jermaine Kearse gets a mulligan for his inexcusable drop against the Vikings he'll make the most of it this time, since he now knows that as long as he continues to get open #3 will continue to look his way.

Finally, what's most impressive about Wilson to me, is his ability to cater his game to the type of game his team needs from him with little to no drop off in performance. He can be the efficient game manager, the gunslinger, the escape artist, the leader, and whatever else this team needs him to be on a play by play, game by game basis. He is that versatile. Minnesota came out fast and the Seahawks needed Wilson to keep them in the game and he did just that and with excellent proficiency. He nearly single handedly weathered the early storm for Seattle and kept them competitive until the defense and especially the running game were able to take over and milk this one away. All of this is not to say that Russell Wilson is perfect, no, he still makes his share of rookie mistakes. He still has that throw or two per game that sails high on him and he still has to develop some chemistry with guys like Doug Baldwin but these are minor issues that can be corrected and achieved through time. Hey wait, isn't that what his mentor Warren Moon told us to give Russellmania, time? In the words of Dave Gahan, "gonna take my time, I've got all the time in world" if it means letting Russell Wilson mature into a franchise quarterback. It seems he's well on his way.

The Inspiration: The smooth sounds of "Spottieottiedopaliscious" by Outkast

I stopped linking my blog posts before because I felt like it was trolling and I'm sorry about that but I've never had a blog before and didn't have the slightest clue of how to go about letting people know about it. Figured .Net was the best place, and honestly it speaks to how much I think of this place. I meant to post this post here first before I threw it up on my blog but I forgot my plan and already put it up on my blog first. Honest mistake my friend. I come in peace. It won't happen again.

NYCoug wrote:I stopped linking my blog before because I felt like it was trolling and I'm sorry about that but I've never had a blog before and didn't have the slightest clue of how to go about letting people know about it. I meant to post this post here first before I threw it up on my blog but I forgot my plan and already put it up on my blog first. Honest mistake my friend. I come in peace. It won't happen again.

I have a habit of reading most fan blogs that are linked in sigs, heck I even read Traumahawk's. It sucks that there isn't a great way of getting the word out without ruffling feathers, but it just comes across as a bit desperate when you do.

That said, I actually have read your blog a handful of times, you are a pretty good writer, and I enjoyed a number of blog posts you have made. Keep up the writing, just tone down littering it all over the place. Maybe PM some of the more successful bloggers around here, and get some tips, or even try to get your stuff on Fieldgulls.com.

cboom wrote:Wilson is the worst QB I have seen as a Hawks fan. And I have been around long enough to see them all.

NYCoug wrote:I stopped linking my blog before because I felt like it was trolling and I'm sorry about that but I've never had a blog before and didn't have the slightest clue of how to go about letting people know about it. I meant to post this post here first before I threw it up on my blog but I forgot my plan and already put it up on my blog first. Honest mistake my friend. I come in peace. It won't happen again.

I have a habit of reading most fan blogs that are linked in sigs, heck I even read Traumahawk's. It sucks that there isn't a great way of getting the word out without ruffling feathers, but it just comes across as a bit desperate when you do.

That said, I actually have read your blog a handful of times, you are a pretty good writer, and I enjoyed a number of blog posts you have made. Keep up the writing, just tone down littering it all over the place. Maybe PM some of the more successful bloggers around here, and get some tips, or even try to get your stuff on Fieldgulls.com.

The kind words and the advice are greatly appreciated, FTW. Thank you. The last thing I want to come across as is desperate so thanks for bringing that to my attention. I'm not trying to ruffle feathers, "make it big", or rack up page hits haha, just trying to have a voice.

I would like to see a story about Flynn and how this season has gone for him. His sister Ann has a blog but she has other interests and I doubt would want to reveal the back story on Flynn's viewpoint of this season.

Thanks for the shoutouts Throwdown, drdiags, FlyingGreg, and T-Sizzle.

drdiags, I'm in agreement with you that an article from Flynn's perspective would be pretty interesting. I'm sure we'll see one sooner or later, like you said. It's got to be rough to sit behind an up and coming All-Pro, have a career day in a rare opportunity at the end of the season in a contract year, think you're finally going to get your shot somewhere else only to have another potential All-Pro emerge right in front of you. Something tells me people will be referencing Matt Flynn in the NFL for a long time.

rainger wrote:Great post, loved reading but I cant get over the number of people who say this:

All of this is not to say that Russell Wilson is perfect, no, he still makes his share of rookie mistakes. He still has that throw or two per game that sails high on him

Why are a couple of mistaks in a game always " a rookie mistake"?

Please dont take this as a dump on you or your post.

I see this time and time again in posts and articles. It is almost like a talking point.

Yet there isnt a game of football where the QB does not throw high, or not see a wide open reciever, or take an unnecessary sack, or something. That incldes Brees, Brady, Rodgers and them all.

So lets say he makes a mistake in a game every QB does, but they are not "rookie" mistakes, just mistakes.

Don't worry, I know you're not dumping on the post. You are right on your point and that's my bad. I'm just looking at it from the point of view that maybe Russell will improve in this area of high throws and we'll eventually look back on it as some of his "rookie mistakes."

But you are right. Every QB has high throws, interceptions, sacks, etc. and Russell ain't no different no matter how much I/we love him. Thanks for pointing that out dude.

HawksFTW wrote:So because no one was reading your blog, you have resorted to just copy and pasting your articles here? It isn't a bad read, but you need to stop trying so hard.

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree with this post. If his passion is writing, let him write. We are better off with great reads like this here. It's what makes this forum the #1 go-to spot for Seahawks information, news, etc. We are a community. Let's not discourage each other.

HawksFTW wrote:So because no one was reading your blog, you have resorted to just copy and pasting your articles here? It isn't a bad read, but you need to stop trying so hard.

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree with this post. If his passion is writing, let him write. We are better off with great reads like this here. It's what makes this forum the #1 go-to spot for Seahawks information, news, etc. We are a community. Let's not discourage each other.

Who wanted Matt Flynn? Saying the 12th man did is too easy. I know the majority of this board didn't, and we're a pretty good sampling of the 12th man. You make it sound with that pitchforks and torches thing that we had a Matt Cassell/Brady Quinn situation here. Not even close. Not even a whisper of it. We lost by one play at St. Louis. Come on... be realistic. I didn't see a pitchfork or torch in site here or anywhere really, except for the rare odd poster who wanted Flynn all along.

SharkHawk wrote:Who wanted Matt Flynn? Saying the 12th man did is too easy. I know the majority of this board didn't, and we're a pretty good sampling of the 12th man. You make it sound with that pitchforks and torches thing that we had a Matt Cassell/Brady Quinn situation here. Not even close. Not even a whisper of it. We lost by one play at St. Louis. Come on... be realistic. I didn't see a pitchfork or torch in site here or anywhere really, except for the rare odd poster who wanted Flynn all along.

I know this board is a pretty good sampling of the 12th man but most of the fans who post here are a little more knowledgeable than your average Seahawks fan. Brock Huard and Warren Moon both spoke about how the fanbase, as a collective, seemed to want a change at QB after the Rams game. I'm not the biggest fan of Moon's and I really love Huard, but I'm going to take their word for it. I'm out here in NYC so I don't get to listen to radio callers, who historically aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, I only hear the radio interviews that get recorded and put up on the internet.

I'd say, and it could just be poor recollection here and if it is I'm sorry, that the 12th Man as a whole was split pretty evenly when it came to whether or not Flynn should replace Wilson.

Oh, and thanks for the kind words everybody. I'll never stop believing that the 12th Man is one of the greatest groups of people on earth!

SharkHawk wrote:Who wanted Matt Flynn? Saying the 12th man did is too easy. I know the majority of this board didn't, and we're a pretty good sampling of the 12th man. You make it sound with that pitchforks and torches thing that we had a Matt Cassell/Brady Quinn situation here. Not even close. Not even a whisper of it. We lost by one play at St. Louis. Come on... be realistic. I didn't see a pitchfork or torch in site here or anywhere really, except for the rare odd poster who wanted Flynn all along.

Gonna disagree with you a bit here Shark, and that's rare. While I agree that the majority of folks didn't want Flynn in and Russ out, it sure didn't seem overwhelming on that side to me following the Lambs game. I feel like it was about a 60-40 split at the time. Granted that perceived 40% was a VERY vocal minority so perhaps it was more like 65-35 but sure didn't feel like it at the time. I may be splitting hairs here but I'll stick by my assertation that it was definitely a fair amount of folks clamoring for a change.

Fair enough. Maybe I didn't read a bunch that week. Just to clarify.... I'm not one for excuses, but just want to make my position clear here.... I've been in bed or the hospital since July. Some weeks entirely are a blur. I remember watching the game really clearly. I may have watched it on Tuesday for all I know. Some surgery days and such I'm kind of out of it.

Today is a pretty bad day. I did enjoy the read. I like your writing style, and you put a lot of effort and draw from many sources. That's terrific. I actually read a story on Deadspin yesterday that was ripping another story that was in major media and had used Wikipedia as a reference. They were talking about how lazy it was. What you wrote was 100 times more time consuming and interesting than what this major media source wrote. So kudos. Keep up the great work.

I may have booted it on the St. Louis game and thought everybody was pretty positive after.... but after thinking some and trying to dig through the fog, I'm starting to think that was the Lions game where folks were mostly positive as they saw growth. Maybe the St. Louis game was one where people saw a possibility at regression.

Your article did make me think something... you're probably too young for this, but I was one who watched Warren play in college as a little tiny kid and thought he was great, just like I thought Russell was great last year. It does my heart well to see Warren step up for kids who are questioned for whatever reason and told they aren't capable of playing in the NFL for some reason. For Warren it was clearly the fact that he is black. There was simply no other reason. He was tall, strong, had a rocket arm, was a winner, etc. The word that was bandied about was "He's not intelligent enough". What horsecrap. Warren is very intelligent. In those days, that was code for, "you're too black." Now Warren has gone to bat for Cam Newton and Russell Wilson in two straight years. I love that, and I know Warren would have succeeded in the NFL even if he had never gone to the CFL. I watched him play every week in the CFL and he was so dominant it was disgusting. Think of how Michael Vick or Cam Newton or Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning looked in college. That is how Warren looked in the CFL. He was just flat out disgustingly good. It still irritates me that the Nordstroms wouldn't guarantee his contract. He would have been in Seattle in 1984. Instead Mouse Davis and Jack Pardee were able to convince Bud Adams (I think he was the owner then?) to guarantee the same amount, as they had worked with Warren. The guarantee swung things the way of Houston and off he went. With that 1985 Seahawks defense and Warren at QB we would have been looking at 1 Lombardi if not 2 or 3. Oh well. Glad he's hear to speak up on behalf of the kids who are possibly not going to get a fair shake due to their height, race, arm, or whatever. A winner is a winner. End of story.

SharkHawk wrote:Fair enough. Maybe I didn't read a bunch that week. Just to clarify.... I'm not one for excuses, but just want to make my position clear here.... I've been in bed or the hospital since July. Some weeks entirely are a blur. I remember watching the game really clearly. I may have watched it on Tuesday for all I know. Some surgery days and such I'm kind of out of it.

Today is a pretty bad day. I did enjoy the read. I like your writing style, and you put a lot of effort and draw from many sources. That's terrific. I actually read a story on Deadspin yesterday that was ripping another story that was in major media and had used Wikipedia as a reference. They were talking about how lazy it was. What you wrote was 100 times more time consuming and interesting than what this major media source wrote. So kudos. Keep up the great work.

I may have booted it on the St. Louis game and thought everybody was pretty positive after.... but after thinking some and trying to dig through the fog, I'm starting to think that was the Lions game where folks were mostly positive as they saw growth. Maybe the St. Louis game was one where people saw a possibility at regression.

Your article did make me think something... you're probably too young for this, but I was one who watched Warren play in college as a little tiny kid and thought he was great, just like I thought Russell was great last year. It does my heart well to see Warren step up for kids who are questioned for whatever reason and told they aren't capable of playing in the NFL for some reason. For Warren it was clearly the fact that he is black. There was simply no other reason. He was tall, strong, had a rocket arm, was a winner, etc. The word that was bandied about was "He's not intelligent enough". What horsecrap. Warren is very intelligent. In those days, that was code for, "you're too black." Now Warren has gone to bat for Cam Newton and Russell Wilson in two straight years. I love that, and I know Warren would have succeeded in the NFL even if he had never gone to the CFL. I watched him play every week in the CFL and he was so dominant it was disgusting. Think of how Michael Vick or Cam Newton or Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning looked in college. That is how Warren looked in the CFL. He was just flat out disgustingly good. It still irritates me that the Nordstroms wouldn't guarantee his contract. He would have been in Seattle in 1984. Instead Mouse Davis and Jack Pardee were able to convince Bud Adams (I think he was the owner then?) to guarantee the same amount, as they had worked with Warren. The guarantee swung things the way of Houston and off he went. With that 1985 Seahawks defense and Warren at QB we would have been looking at 1 Lombardi if not 2 or 3. Oh well. Glad he's hear to speak up on behalf of the kids who are possibly not going to get a fair shake due to their height, race, arm, or whatever. A winner is a winner. End of story.

Excellent stuff Shark. I'm 25 and like to think that I have a pretty good knowledge of the game, the Seahawks, and the history of both... but I can tell that you've probably forgotten more about football and the Seahawks than I've ever known! Thank you for the history, that was awesome!

Sorry to hear you've had issues Shark. REALLY hope you get back to normal soon. As for Warren, shit man I really feel old cuz I remeber watching him lead the Huskies to the upset Rose Bowl win over Michigan on New Year's Day 1978 with a fearsome hangover from hitting the bars the night before so I was 21 at the time. Damn. I. Am. Old.

Last edited by hawksfansinceday1 on Tue Nov 06, 2012 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Personally I like the blog posts. It is another resource, and we know the author won't be griping about having info reposted here and sending out threatening lawyer letters like some groups do (espn blogs cough cough).

I work nights, have very little time in the day to sit around clickin thru the interwebs. Most of my browsing is done on slow as molasses work computers, with some pretty strict content filters and firewall stuff, in the dead time between spurts of frantic activity. This makes .NET endup being pretty much the only place I get to use to catch up on what is going on with the Seahawks.

I LOVE the reposts from folks' blogs, because I don't have that stuff bookmarked here, and we have some vewry good writers here at .Net. I don't necessarily agree with everything posted, but appreciate the effort and time put in by the people just the same, it is nice being able to get a feel for the general feeling up there all at one site.

Keep up the good work NY, Kip,and all you others, this quiet minority here is eating it up.

I really enjoyed this article NYCoug. I don't care if people want to provide the web address of their blog. I too am a hardcore Seahawk fan living in the East. I'm in Redskin country here in Northern Virginia. Thank god for NFL Sunday Ticket. The year I didn't subscribe. I went to various sports bars to watch the games. Watch, not necessarily listen. I nearly got beat up by some Bears fans at a Hooters after that win in 2010. I told him. Take it easy buddy, we're all here to look at the same two things. Anyway, keep up the work. You're a very talented writer. I'm a high school teacher so I can give you an A minus.

capncrunch wrote:I really enjoyed this article NYCoug. I don't care if people want to provide the web address of their blog. I too am a hardcore Seahawk fan living in the East. I'm in Redskin country here in Northern Virginia. Thank god for NFL Sunday Ticket. The year I didn't subscribe. I went to various sports bars to watch the games. Watch, not necessarily listen. I nearly got beat up by some Bears fans at a Hooters after that win in 2010. I told him. Take it easy buddy, we're all here to look at the same two things. Anyway, keep up the work. You're a very talented writer. I'm a high school teacher so I can give you an A minus.

haha that's awesome capn, I'm hangin this one up on my fridge for sure!

I got an A Minus and a nice review from kearly, I'm seriously set over here as another noreaster comes to kick NYC's ass haha. Thank God, I'll be in Seattle at the CLink this Sunday! Unreal! But seriously guys, thanks for the kind words.

That's nuts about the Bears fans dude. Glad you were the bigger person and kept it real. As far as going to bars to watch (and not listen) tell me about it. Even when I go to the Seahawks bar here in NYC (Carlow East) the volume is up but the crowd's usually so rowdy you can barely hear anything, which is pretty cool in a way when you think about it. Anyways, this past week I decided to stay in and watch the game at home for the first time in what seems like forever. It's amazing how different the experience is when you're a) not getting tanked b) not talking to anyone else about the game and just watching. It was almost a weird, surreal experience haha

HawksFTW wrote:So because no one was reading your blog, you have resorted to just copy and pasting your articles here? It isn't a bad read, but you need to stop trying so hard.

NYCoug breaks his nuts to write a good article and this is what you respond with? What a miserable response of a POST.

Uh huh. As I said in my next post, I actually had been reading his blog posts previously. The all out attempt to just cut and paste his articles here, instead of just posting them on his blog completely undermined what he was trying to do. I was offering him constructive criticism on how he is coming across with actions like that, and further more offered some advice on how to get more viewers on his blog (on top of complimenting his writing).

kearly wrote:Yikes dude.

FWIW, Montana, English, and myself- we all post articles from the blogs we write for here at .net all the time, and nobody complains when we do it.

People have complained, you might not like to admit it. I enjoy all of those blogs, and read them regularly. There are more than a few people that get tired of being overly inundated with blog posts on a message board though. Not going to argue that point though, because that isn't what I was saying, and I am not sure why people are having a problem with my post. NYCoug definitely took it in the spirit of which it was intended: no need to forego the blog to post it here. If you had been reading his blog, as I had, you would see his material speaks for itself, and he was building quite a good stash of blog posts. Don't give up on it, and start spamming it here, when subtly would do wonders for him.

I wasn't bashing him or his writing.

cboom wrote:Wilson is the worst QB I have seen as a Hawks fan. And I have been around long enough to see them all.

Hey guys no need to disagree here. I appreciate everyone having my back a million times over but let's take it easy on FTW. He didn't mean any harm and was just offering me some suggestions/advice. It might have just come across a little harsh but I doubt any harm was intended.

We're all 12's here. Never thought something like this would have started over something I wrote haha you're all awesome!

NYCoug wrote:Hey guys no need to disagree here. I appreciate everyone having my back a million times over but let's take it easy on FTW. He didn't mean any harm and was just offering me some suggestions/advice. It might have just come across a little harsh but I doubt any harm was intended.

We're all 12's here. Never thought something like this would have started over something I wrote haha you're all awesome!

Cheers, Dave

You are cool cat, and I have a problem of being to brisk sometimes with my posts. Never meant any harm, keep up the good work.

cboom wrote:Wilson is the worst QB I have seen as a Hawks fan. And I have been around long enough to see them all.